Hi Asenmaga.
Really interesting your journey.
Mind sharing what your exact regime was? i.e. what exercise, duration/intensity, diet you did? I know you mentioned that you are not pushing anything, but I would really like the benefit of your personal experience.
Thanks.
Hi Nightsafari
Let me share with you what I did but I wont go into specific food choice or diet plan
but I have already mentioned a lot of those diet plans in my earlier post.
Do note I am not medically qualified to give medical advice only sharing what I did.
It may work for me but may not work for someone else. You need to find one that suits your body.
Take Note I am speaking as a T2D ( T1D is totally different !)
First thing to do 1) Get all the Lab tests done to get a baseline of your metabolic health situations.
a) Fasting Blood Glucose , b) Fasting Insulin, c) Fasting C peptide.
(b and c very important if you are doing Fasting and or ketogenic and or very low carb plan.
2) All your Lipids Panel
3) Liver and Kidney Function test.
Ideally you also need to check for heart health but too costly so I skipped this part ( A CT calcium score could be helpful)
Next get yourself a Blood Glucose Meter . ( CAUTIOUS IF you are on BLOOD GLUCOSE lowering medication you need to test often to ensure you are not in Hypo or low blood glucose. )
First day. the night before have your last meal before 7pm. ;- wake up, test your blood glucose, which will be your fasting Blood Glucose reading, in Singapore it is in mmol/L. Ideally you would like to have a reading of around 5 mmoi/L or lower.
If you are not on any BG lowering Medication even at 4.3 mmol/L or lower you wont have the shaky and sweating feeling of Hypo.
Note your reading in a diary. Take your breakfast. Record what are the food you are taking , eg 1 hard boiled eggs, two slices of wholemeal bread , butter jam etc etc if possible estimate the quantity of the butter and jam... eg 1 Table spoon . ( you can download Myfitnesspal Apps to assist ).
At 1 hour after Breakfast take a reading of your BG reading.
Here we are trying to find the peak BG reading, for most people it is at 1 hour after and some at 1 1/2 hours and also depending on what type of food you are taking...If you drink fruit juices than It could come as quickly as half hour. Oily or fatty food will delay the spike . Suggest for the first few days keep the food simple.
For me I personally tried to keep my spike to 1.6mmol/L and below.
You do the same type of test for your lunch and dinner. Try to have maximum three meals a day without snacking. When you do this "experiment, it is advisable to keep a food diary with the coresponding BG readings. After 1 week you will realized what are the food that gives you the most BG spike. Either you completely skip them for the time being, or you try to experiment with the quantity your body can accept.
That is a summary of how I got started. Now slightly into details....again I stressed I am NOT saying my method is the right one or the only one, It is what works for me.
From the above, you will soon come to realized that Sugar, Fruits , Rice , wheat , bread will give you a big Blood Glucose spike. Whether it is white rice or brown rice or red rice they all give you a blood glucose spike same with all wheat whether wholemeal or plain white flour or oats.
Like I have stated before, there are many food choices plans or diets ... Whole Food Plant Based , Low Carbohydrate , Ketogenic , Carnivore , Intermittent Fasting , Time Restricted Feeding ; GI Index , GI load etc etc . You can search Youtube for the above topics.
Ensured that you follow those that are from medical professionals (eg the Taiwanese Doctor Youtube I posted -he is famous in Taiwan for his 211 plate for personal weight lost journey ie. half the plate of veggies , the balance 25 pct protein and 25 carbs ).
Personally I have tried basically most of them and adapted them for my convenient.
When trying out any plan, it is best to find a doctor who is opened minded and willing to listen to what the patient wants, there are a few in Singapore but they are not aggressively pushing them because of MOH although the American Doctor I would consider as one of the most receptive to different methodology. ( There is one new Medical clinic group in Singapore that are somewhat receptive to different methods too, including having dietitian and exercise coach, if you need the name , pm me ).
Before you get into Fasting, you need to do proper due diligence. - that is why I still do an annual Fasting Insulin and C peptide to ensure that my pancreas is still producing normal insulin level.
If you going to the very low carbs and or ketogenic diet and fasting, you need to get yourself a Blood Ketone meter.
For a normal T2D you wont get into Ketoacidosis .
A blood ketone meter is also to check on your blood ketones level ( urine ketone strips is not very good).
Do a search and find out more about Ketoacidosis and the difference between nutritional ketosis , even medically professional sometimes misunderstood the two.
Physical activity : any form of physical activity helps. I normally take a slow walk daily, usually about 8 km. can be before food or after food.
The best is 15 to 20 mins after food, it will help to tempered the blood glucose spike ( again...If you are on BG lowering medication, you need to be careful, it can caused your BG to drop drastically... so ensure you have sweets around if you are in such a situation ).
Whatever method you decided make sure you test and test and test your BG levels. During the initial phase I did all my lab tests every three months to see the various perimeters .
Sorry for being long winded...because I dont want to be seen pushing any particular diet plan.......so this is the only way without being pointing in any particular plan.
Let me list what is important :-
1) Food Choices ( my opinion , most important 80 pct of your chance to success )
2) Sleep
3) controlling stress level
4) Physical activity ( slow walk as long as from 30-40 mins daily )
5) Fasting is optional , but can be very effective for some if done the right way and with all the precautious taken .
Your Age also matter on which plan to decide, because if you are older , you need to have a bit more protein....
In any plan there is pros and cons... so weigh your risk rewards and decide whether you can accept those risk that you are taking if you embark on this plan or that plan. Always know what you are getting into.